Large travel group sees Jamaica setback but bets on AI
Published:Wednesday | December 17, 2025 | 12:05 AM
TUI Group, one of the world’s largest tour operators, has reported slower-than-usual winter bookings following Hurricane Melissa’s impact in Jamaica, but maintains a positive outlook.
The Germany-based company will also pivot towards capturing bookings through AI search queries rather than traditional search engines. TUI serves 35 million customers through more than 460 hotels, 18 cruise ships, five airlines with 125 aircraft, and 1,200 travel agencies.
“There is a Jamaica effect, but we very much believe that we can cope with it very well,” CEO Sebastian Ebel told investors during the company’s December briefing. Winter bookings are currently up 1.0 per cent, compared to 4.0 per cent a year earlier.
Jamaica suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Melissa in late October, with losses estimated at US$8.9 billion – roughly 40 per cent of GDP. The storm temporarily shuttered parts of the hospitality sector, leading to a marked decline in bookings. “Although representing a small part of our programme, bookings for Jamaica have seen a decline in recent weeks following the hurricane,” TUI noted in its financial report.
For the fiscal year ending September 30, TUI reported underlying earnings of €1.46 billion, up 12.6 per cent, with revenues rising 4.4 per cent to €24.2 billion. The company’s 2026 outlook is more subdued, projecting earnings growth of 7.0 to 10 per cent and revenue increases of 2.0 to 4.0 per cent – slower than the prior year’s performance.
Even as it manages the fallout from Jamaica, TUI is retooling its digital strategy to reflect how travellers now search for vacations. Instead of focusing on search engine optimisation (SEO), the company is investing in “answer engine optimisation” (AEO) to ensure its content is visible and bookable through AI chatbots.
“AI is changing tourism, how we distribute,” Ebel said, calling the technology “a great opportunity for TUI”.
Prospective travellers typically turn to search engines such as Google or Yahoo, as well as travel platforms like Kayak and Expedia, to research vacations. With the rise of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, however, many are now asking chatbots to design their dream trips – from flights and hotels to attractions and restaurants. TUI wants to appear directly in these chatbot-driven responses via AEO, rather than being limited to traditional search engine and travel site listings via SEO.
The company’s recent partnership with Mindtrip illustrates the shift: travellers can plan vacations and book instantly through a ‘Book with TUI’ button embedded in the AI platform, while retaining the protections of package holidays. Internally, TUI is also deploying AI to cut costs, automating customer service inquiries and reducing reliance on external IT contractors.
“I remember two years ago, we had thousands of external people. Today, we have maybe 30 or 50. And we really lowered – almost vanished – the number of external people, and we do it with us,” Ebel said.